[2]Fact: More than a third of the children in Jefferson County live in poverty. Many of these children don’t have books and are not read to at home.

According to Mary Kuehner, JCPL's Traveling Children's Librarian, research shows that being read to as a child and having books in the home are the two most important indicators of future academic success. This information is not lost on us. JCPL makes sure our poorest and youngest residents experience both. We visit local Head Start and other preschool classes to deliver bilingual early-literacy storytimes to at-risk children, and we make sure every child gets a book of their own to take home. Teachers across the county have said that they can see evidence of the children’s increased early literacy skills as a direct result of this program.